South Johnston (10-1) is seeded No. 1 in the NCHSAA 3-AA football playoff bracket, which was released this afternoon. The Trojans will face former Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference rival Western Harnett next Friday.

The winner gets either Rocky Mount or South Central Pitt in the second round.

The preliminary listing of the state 4-AA and 4-A playoffs leave Smithfield-Selma on the outside looking in. The brackets should become official sometime tonight.

The Spartans finished the season 4-7 and were sixth, by virtue of tiebreakers in the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference.

Southeast Raleigh is seeded seventh in the NCHSAA 4-A football playoff bracket and will host Greenville Rose, the 11th seed. The winner of that game meets Harnett Central or Fayetteville 71st in the second round.

Garner, which finished 6-5 this season and third in the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference, will host Wakefield in the opening round of the NCHSAA 4-AA football playoffs. The Trojans are seeded eighth and Wakefield is seeded ninth.

The winner meets the winner of Wake Forest-Rolesville and Clayton in the second round on Nov. 20.

Clayton earned the final spot in the NCHSAA 4-AA eastern regional brackets. The Comets (4-7) are seeded 16th and will take on top-seeded and 11-0 Wake Forest-Rolesville in the first round. The Cougars beat Clayton 16-14 earlier this season, winning on a touchdown pass on the last play of the game.

Princeton is seeded fourth in the NCHSAA 1-A football playoffs. The Bulldogs (8-3) will host Hayesville, seeded 13th, a first round western regional game next Friday night.

CHAPEL HILL -- It's good day to be Ryan Houston, and Casey Barth, but not Duke.

Houston's career-best 164 yards, and Barth's four field goals, gave North Carolina a 19-6 win over the Blue Devils on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

The loss ends Duke's three-game ACC winning streak and leaves them 1-19 in the Victory Bell series since 1989. The loss also derails Duke's pursuit of a bowl bidand bolster's UNC's, which has won two straight in the ACC after an 0-3 conference start.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Maybe Ken Hitchcock was being nice. Or coy. Or, perhaps, truthful.

The Columbus Blue Jackets coach said today he had watched tape of some of the Canes' recent games and has been surprised by what he saw.

"I can't figure it out," he said after the Jackets' morning skate at Nationwide Arena. "I just don't see the poor play that usually comes with losing."

N.C. State finally has its long-awaited, first ACC win.

Quarterback Russell Wilson passed for three touchdowns, ran for another and survived a three-interception game as the Wolfpack defeated Maryland 38-31 on Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Lost in all the gloom and dejection of the Canes' 3-2 loss Friday to the Maple Leafs was that Zach Boychuk made his NHL debut this season and played well.

Let's just say the winger, called up Friday from Albany (AHL), played well enough to make coach Paul Maurice more than comfortable with what he saw on the ice.

"What you're hoping for, on a team struggling for offense, you're hoping fo offense," Maurice said today. "At the same time, you want to be abe to play the young player, so you want that confidence and comfort level as a coach."